1.The Tinder-Box

There came a soldier marching along the high road—one, two!one, two!He had his knapsack on his back and a sabre by his side, for he had been in the wars, and now he wanted to go home. And on the way he met with an old witch:she was very hideous, and her under lip hung down upon her breast.She said,“Good evening, soldier.What a fine sword you have, and what a big knapsack!You're a proper soldier!Now you shall have as much money as you like to have.”

“I thank you, you old witch!”said the soldier.

“Do you see that great tree?”quoth the witch；and she pointed to a tree which stood beside them.“It's quite hollow inside. You must climb to the top, and then you'll see a hole, through which you can let yourself down and get deep into the tree.I'll tie a rope round your body, so that I can pull you up again when you call me.”

“What am I to do down in the tree?”asked the soldier.

“Get money,”replied the witch.“Listen to me. When you come down to the earth under the tree, you will find yourself in a great hall:it is quite light, for many hundred lamps are burning there.Then you will see three doors；these you can open, for the keys are in the locks.If you go into the first chamber, you'll see a great chest in the middle of the floor；on this chest sits a dog, and he's got a pair of eyes as big as two tea-cups.But you need not care for that.I'll give you my blue-checked apron, and you can spread it out upon the floor；then go up quickly and take the dog, and set him on my apron；then open the chest, and take as many farthings as you like.They are of copper:if you prefer silver, you must go into the second chamber.But there sits a dog with a pair of eyes as big as mill-wheels.But do not you care for that.Set him upon my apron, and take some of the money.And if you want gold, you can have that too—in fact, as much as you can carry—if you go into the third chamber.But the dog that sits on the money-chest there has two eyes as big as the round tower of Copenhagen.He is a fierce dog, you may be sure；but you needn't be afraid, for all that.Only set him on my apron, and he won't hurt you；and take out of the chest as much gold as you like.”

“That's not so bad,”said the soldier.“But what am I to give you, you old witch?for you will not do it for nothing, I fancy.”

“No,”replied the witch,“not a single farthing will I have. You shall only bring me an old tinder-box which my grandmother forgot when she was down there last.”

“Then tie the rope round my body,”cried the soldier.

“Here it is,”said the witch,“and here's my blue-checked apron.”

Then the soldier climbed up into the tree, let himself slip down into the hole, and stood, as the witch had said, in the great hall where the many hundred lamps were burning.

Now he opened the first door. Ugh!There sat the dog with eyes as big as tea-cups, staring at him.“You're a nice fellow!”exclaimed the soldier；and he set him on the witch's apron, and took as many copper farthings as his pockets would hold, and then locked the chest, set the dog on it again, and went into the second chamber.Aha!There sat the dog with eyes as big as mill-wheels.

“You should not stare so hard at me,”said the soldier；“you might strain your eyes.”And he set the dog up on the witch's apron. When he saw the silver money in the chest, he threw away all the copper money he had, and filled his pockets and his knapsack with silver only.Then he went into the third chamber.Oh, but that was horrid!The dog there really had eyes as big as the round tower and they turned round and round in his head like wheels.

“Good evening!”said the soldier；and he touched his cap, for he had never seen such a dog as that before. When he had looked at him a little more closely, he thought,“That will do,”and lifted him down to the floor, and opened the chest.Mercy!What a quantity of gold was there!He could buy with it the whole of Copenhagen, and the sugar pigs of the cake-woman, and all the tin soldiers, whips, and rocking-horses in the whole world.Yes, that was a quantity of money!Now the soldier threw away all the silver coin with which he had filled his pockets and his knapsack, and took gold instead:yes, all his pockets, his knapsack, his boots, and his cap were filled, so that he could scarcely walk.Now indeed he had plenty of money.He put the dog, on the chest, shut the door, and then called up through the tree,“Now pull me up, you old witch.”

“Have you the tinder-box?”asked the witch.

“Plague on it!”exclaimed the soldier,“I had clean forgotten that.”And he went and brought it.

The witch drew him up, and he stood on the high road again, with pockets, boots, knapsack, and cap full of gold.

“What are you going to do with the tinder-box?”asked the soldier.

“That's nothing to you,”retorted the witch.“You've had your money—just give me the tinder-box.”

“Nonsense!”said the soldier.“Tell me directly what you're going to do with it, or I'll draw my sword and cut off your head.”

“No!”cried the witch.

So the soldier cut off her head. There she lay!But he tied up all his money in her apron, took it on his back like a bundle, put the tinder-box in his pocket, and went straight off towards the town.

That was a splendid town!He put up at the very best inn, asked for the finest rooms, and ordered his favourite dishes, for now he was rich, having got so much money. The servant who had to clean his boots certainly thought them a remarkably old pair for such a rich gentleman；but he had not bought any new ones yet.The next day he procured proper boots and handsome clothes.Now our soldier had become a fine gentleman；and the people told him of all the splendid things which were in their city, and about the king, and what a pretty princess the king's daughter was.

“Where can one get to see her?”asked the soldier.

“She is not to be seen at all,”said they all together；“she lives in a great copper castle, with a great many walls and towers round about it；no one but the king may go in and out there, for it has been prophesied that she shall marry a common soldier, and the king can't bear that.”

“I should like to see her,”thought the soldier；but he could not get leave to do so. Now he lived merrily, went to the theatre, drove in the king's garden, and gave much money to the poor；and this was very kind of him, for he knew from old times how hard it is when one has not a shilling.Now he was rich, had fine clothes, and gained many friends, who all said he was a rare one, a true cavalier；and that pleased the soldier well.But as he spent money every day and never earned any, he had at last only two shillings left；and he was obliged to turn out of the fine rooms in which he had dwelt, and had to live in a little garret under the roof, and clean his boots for himself, and mend them with a darning-needle.None of his friends came to see him, for there were too many stairs to climb.

It was quite dark one evening, and he could not even buy himself a candle, when it occurred to him that there was a candle-end in the tinder-box which he had taken out of the hollow tree into which the witch had helped him. He brought out the tinder-box and the candle-end；but as soon as he struck fire and the sparks rose up from the flint, the door flew open, and the dog who had eyes as big as a couple of tea-cups, and whom he had seen in the tree, stood before him, and said:

“What are my lord's commands?”

“What is this?”said the soldier.“That's a famous tinder-box, if I can get everything with it that I want!Bring me some money,”said he to the dog；and whisk!the dog was gone, and whisk!he was back again, with a great bag full of shillings in his mouth.

Now the soldier knew what a capital tinder-box this was. If he struck it once, the dog came who sat upon the chest of copper money；if he struck it twice, the dog came who had the silver；and if he struck it three times, then appeared the dog who had the gold.Now the soldier moved back into the fine rooms, and appeared again in handsome clothes；and all his friends knew him again, and cared very much for him indeed.

Once he thought to himself,“It is a very strange thing that one cannot get to see the princess. They all say she is very beautiful；but what is the use of that, if she has always to sit in the great copper castle with the many towers?Can I not get to see her at all?Where is my tinder box?”And so he struck a light, and whisk!came the dog with eyes as big as tea cups.

“It is midnight, certainly,”said the soldier,“but I should very much like to see the princess, only for one little moment.”

The dog was outside the door directly, and, before the soldier thought it, came back with the princess. She sat upon the dog's back and slept；and every one could see she was a real princess, for she was so lovely.The soldier could not refrain from kissing her, for he was a thorough soldier.

Then the dog ran back again with the princess. But when morning came, and the King and Queen were drinking tea, the princess said she had had a strange dream the night before, about a dog and a soldier—that she had ridden upon the dog, and the soldier had kissed her.“That would be a fine history!”said the Queen.

So one of the old court ladies had to watch the next night by the princess's bed, to see if this was really a dream, or what it might be.

The soldier had a great longing to see the lovely princess again；so the dog came in the night, took her away, and ran as fast as he could. But the old lady put on waterboots, and ran just as fast after him.When she saw that they both entered a great house, she thought；“Now I know where it is；”and with a bit of chalk she drew a great cross on the door.Then she went home and lay down, and the dog came up with the princess；but when he saw that there was a cross drawn on the door where the soldier lived, he took a piece of chalk too, and drew crosses on all the doors in the town.And that was cleverly done, for now the lady could not find the right door, because all the doors had crosses upon them.

In the morning early came the King and the Queen, the old court lady and all the officers, to see where it was the princess had been.“Here it is!”said the King, when he saw the first door with a cross upon it.“No, my dear husband, it is there!”said the Queen, who descried another door which also showed a cross.“But there is one, and there is one!”said all, for wherever they looked there were crosses on the doors. So they saw that it would avail them nothing if they searched on.

But the Queen was an exceedingly clever woman, who could do more than ride in a coach. She took her great gold scissors, cut a piece of silk into pieces, and made a neat little bag；this bag she filled with fine wheat flour, and tied it on the princess's back；and when that was done, she cut a little hole in the bag, so that the flour would be scattered along all the way which the princess should take.

In the night the dog came again, took the princess on his back, and ran with her to the soldier, who loved her very much, and would gladly have been a prince, so that he might have her for his wife. The dog did not notice at all how the flour ran out in a stream from the castle to the windows of the soldier's house, where he ran up the wall with the princess.In the morning the King and the Queen saw well enough where their daughter had been, and they took the soldier and put him in prison.

There he sat. Oh, but it was dark and disagreeable there!And they said to him.“Tomorrow you shall be hanged.”That was not amusing to hear, and he had left his tinder-box at the inn.In the morning he could see, through the iron grating of the little window, how the people were hurrying out of the town to see him hanged.He heard the drums beat and saw the soldiers marching.All the people were running out, and among them was a shoemaker's boy with leather apron and slippers, and he galloped so fast that one of his slippers flew off, and came right against the wall where the soldier sat looking through the iron grating.

“Halloo, you shoemaker's boy!You needn't be in such a hurry,”cried the soldier to him:“it will not begin till I come. But if you will run to where I lived, and bring me my tinder-box, you shall have four shillings；but you must put your best leg foremost.”

The shoemaker's boy wanted to get the four shillings, so he went and brought the tinder-box, and—well, we shall hear now what happened.

Outside the town a great gallows had been built, and round it stood the soldiers and many hundred thousand people. The King and Queen sat on a splendid throne, opposite to the judges and the whole council.The soldier already stood upon the ladder；but as they were about to put the rope round his neck, he said that before a poor criminal suffered his punishment an innocent request was always granted to him.He wanted very much to smoke a pipe of tobacco, and it would be the last pipe he should smoke in the world.The King would not say“No”to this；so the soldier took his tinder-box, and struck fire.One—two—three!—and there suddenly stood all the dogs—the one with eyes as big as tea-cups, the one with eyes as large as mill-wheels, and the one whose eyes were as big as the round tower.

“Help me now, so that I may not be hanged,”said the soldier.

And the dogs fell upon the judge and all the council, seized one by the leg and another by the nose, and tossed them all many feet into the air, so that they fell down and were all broken to pieces.

“I won't!”cried the King；but the biggest dog took him and the Queen, and threw them after the others. Then the soldiers were afraid, and the people cried,“Little soldier, you shall be our king, and marry the beautiful princess!”

So they put the soldier into the king's coach, and all the three dogs danced in front and cried“Hurrah!”and the boys whistled through their fingers, and the soldiers presented arms. The princess came out of the copper castle, and became queen, and she liked that well enough.The wedding lasted a whole week, and the three dogs sat at the table too, and opened their eyes wider than ever at all they saw.

2.The Travelling Companion

Poor John was in great tribulation, for his father was very ill, and could not get well again. Except these two, there was no one at all in the little room:the lamp on the table was nearly extinguished, and it was quite late in the evening.

“You have been a good son, John,”said the sick father.“Providence will help you through the world.”And he looked at him with mild earnest eyes, drew a deep breath, and died:it was just as if he slept. But John wept；for now he had no one in the world, neither father nor mother, neither sister nor brother.Poor John!He knelt down beside the bed, kissed his dead father's hand, and shed very many salt tears；but at last his eyes closed, and he went to sleep, lying with his head against the hard bed-board.

Then he dreamed a strange dream:he saw the sun and moon curtsy to him, and he beheld his father again, fresh, and well, and he heard his father laugh as he had always laughed when he was very glad. A beautiful girl, with a golden crown upon her long beautiful hair, gave him her hand；and his father said,”Do you see what a bride you have gained?She is the most beautiful in the whole world!”Then he awoke, and all the splendour was gone.His father was lying dead and cold in the bed, and there was no one at all with them.Poor John!

In the next week the dead man was buried. The son walked close behind the coffin, and could now no longer see the good father who had loved him so much.He heard how they threw the earth down upon the coffin, and stopped to see the last corner of it；but the next shovel-full of earth hid even that；then he felt just as if his heart would burst into pieces, so sorrowful was he.Around him they were singing a psalm；it sounded so beautifully, and the tears came into John's eyes；he wept, and that did him good in his sorrow.

The sun shone magnificently on the green trees, just as if it would have said,“You shall no longer be sorrowful, John!Do you see how beautifully blue the sky is?Your father is up there, and prays to the Father of all that it may be always well with you.”

“I will always be good,”said John,“then I shall go to heaven to my father；and what joy that will be when we see each other again!How much I shall then have to tell him!And he will show me so many things, and explain to me so much of the glories of heaven, just as he taught me here on earth. Oh, how joyful that will be!”

He pictured that to himself so plainly, that he smiled, while the tears were still rolling down his cheeks. The little birds sat up in the chestnut trees, and twittered,“Tweet-weet!Tweet-weet!”They were joyful and merry, though they had been at the burying, but they knew quite well that the dead man was now in heaven；that he had wings, far larger and more beautiful than theirs；that he was now happy, because he had been a good man upon earth, and they were glad at it.John saw how they flew from the green trees out into the world, and he felt inclined to fly too.But first he cut out a great cross of wood to put on his father's grave；and when he brought it there in the evening the grave was decked with sand and flowers；strangers had done this, for they were all very fond of the good father who was now dead.

Early next morning John packed his little bundle, and put in his belt his whole inheritance, which consisted of fifty dollars and a few silver shillings；with this he intended to wander out into the world. But first he went to the churchyard, to his father's grave, repeated the Lord's Prayer, and said,“Farewell, dear father, I will always be good, and so you may well venture to pray to the good God that things may go well with me.”

Out in the field where he was walking all the flowers stood fresh and beautiful in the warm sunshine；and they nodded in the wind, just as if they would have said,“Welcome to the green wood!Is it not fine here?”But John turned back once more to look at the old church, in which he had been christened when he was a little child, and where he had been every Sunday with his father at the service, and had sung his psalm；then, high up in one of the openings of the tower, he saw the church-goblin standing in his little pointed red cap, shading his face with his bent arm, to keep the sun from shining in his eyes. John nodded a farewell to him, and the little goblin waved his red cap, laid his hand on his heart, and kissed his hand to John a great many times, to show that he wished the traveller well and hoped he would have a prosperous journey.

John thought what a number of fine things he would get to see in the great splendid world；and he went on farther—farther than he had ever been before. He did not know the places at all through which he came, nor the people whom he met.Now he was far away in a strange region.

The first night he was obliged to lie under a haystack in the field to sleep, for he had no other bed. But that was very nice, he thought；the king could not be better off.There was the whole field, with the brook, the haystack, and the blue sky above it；that was certainly a beautiful sleeping-room.The green grass with the little red and white flowers was the carpet；the elder bushes and the wild rose hedges were garlands of flowers；and for a wash-hand basin he had the whole brook with the clear fresh water, where the sedges bowed before him and wished him“good evening”and“good morning”.The moon was certainly a great night-lamp, high up under the blue ceiling, and that lamp would never set fire to the curtains with its light.John could sleep quite quietly, and he did so, and never woke until the sun rose and all the little birds were singing around,“Good morning!Good morning!Are you not up yet?”

The bells were ringing for church；it was Sunday. The people went to hear the preacher, and John followed them, and sang a psalm and heard God's Word.It seemed to him just as if he was in his own church, where he had been christened and had sung psalms with his father.

Out in the churchyard were many graves, and on some of them the grass grew high. Then he thought of his father's grave, which would at last look like these, as he could not weed it and adorn it.

So he sat down and plucked up the long grass, set up the wooden crosses which had fallen down, and put back in their places the wreaths which the wind had blown away from the graves；for he thought,“Perhaps some one will do the same to my father's grave, as I cannot do it.”

Outside the churchyard gate stood an old beggar, leaning upon his crutch. John gave him the silver shillings which he had, and then went away, happy and cheerful, into the wide world.Towards evening the weather became terribly bad.He made haste to get under shelter, but dark night soon came on；then at last he came to a little church, which lay quite solitary on a small hill.

The door luckily stood ajar, and he crept in；here he decided to remain till the storm had gone down.

“Here I will sit down in a corner,”said he；“I am quite tired and require a little rest.”Then he sat down, folded his hands, and said his evening prayer；and before he was aware of it he was asleep and dreaming, while it thundered and lightened without.

When he woke it was midnight；but the bad weather had passed by, and the moon shone in upon him through the windows. In the midst of the church stood an open coffin with a dead man in it who had not yet been buried.John was not at all timid, for he had a good conscience；and he knew very well that the dead do not harm anyone.It is living people who do harm.Two such living bad men stood close by the dead man, who had been placed here in the church till he should be buried.They had an evil design against him, and would not let him rest quietly in his coffin, but were going to throw him out before the church door—the poor dead man!

“Why will you do that?”asked John；“that is wrong and wicked. Let him rest, A for mercy's sake.”

“Nonsense!”replied the bad men；“he has cheated us. He owed us money and could not pay it, and now he's dead into the bargain, and we shall not get a penny!So we mean to revenge ourselves properly:he shall lie like a dog outside the church door!”

“I have not more than fifty dollars,”cried John,“that is my whole in heritance；but I will gladly give it to you, if you will honestly promise me to leave the poor dead man in peace. I shall manage to get on without the money；I have hearty strong limbs, and Heaven will always help me.”

“Yes,”said these ugly bad men,“if you will pay his debt we will do nothing to him, you may depend upon that!”And then they took the money he gave them, laughed aloud at his good nature, and went their way. But he laid the corpse out again in the coffin, and folded its hands.took leave of it, and went away contentedly through the great forest.

All around, wherever the moon could shine through between the trees, he saw the graceful little elves playing merrily. They did not let him disturb them；they knew that he was a good innocent lad；and it is only the bad people who never can see the elves.Some of them were not larger than a finger, and had fastened up their long yellow hair with golden combs:they were rocking themselves, two and two, on the great dew-drops that lay on the leaves and on the high grass；sometimes the drop rolled away, and then they fell down between the long grass-stalks, and that occasioned much laughter and noise among the other little creatures.It was extremely amusing.They sang, and John recognized quite plainly the pretty songs which he had learned as a little boy.Great coloured spiders, with silver crowns on their heads.had to spin long hanging bridges and palaces from hedge to hedge；and as the tiny dew-drops fell on these they looked like gleaming glass in the moonlight.This continued until the sun rose.Then the little elves crept into the flower-buds, and the wind caught their bridges and palaces, which flew through the air in the shape of spider's webs.

John had just come out of the wood, when a strong man's voice called out behind him,“Halloo, comrade!Whither are you journeying?”

“Into the wide world!”he replied. I have neither father nor mother, and am but a poor lad；but Providence will help me.”

“I am going out into the wide world, too,”said the strange man:“shall we two keep one another company?”

“Yes, certainly,”said John；and so they went on together. Soon they became very fond of each other, for they were both good souls.But John saw that the stranger was much more clever than himself.He had travelled through almost the whole world, and could tell of almost everything that existed.

The sun already stood high when they seated themselves under a great tree to eat their breakfast；and just then an old woman came up. Oh, she was very old, and walked quite bent, leaning upon a crutch；upon her back she carried a bundle of firewood which she had collected in the forest.Her apron was tucked up, and John saw that three great stalks of fern and some willow twigs stuck out of it.When she was close to them, her foot slipped；she fell and gave a loud scream, for she had broken her leg, the poor old woman!

John directly proposed that they should carry the old woman home to her dwelling；but the stranger opened his knapsack, took out a little jar, and said that he had a salve there which would immediately make her leg whole and strong, so that she could walk home herself, as if she had never broken her leg at all. But for that he required that she should give him the three rods which she carried in her apron.

“That would be paying well!”said the old woman, and she nodded her head in a strange way. She did not like to give away the rods, but then it was not agreeable to lie there with a broken leg.So she gave him the wands；and as soon as he had only rubbed the ointment on her leg, the old mother arose, and walked much better than before—such was the power of this ointment.But then it was not to be bought at the chemist's.

“What do you want with the rods?”John asked his travelling companion.

“They are three capital fern brooms,”replied he.“I like those very much, for I am a whimsical fellow.”

And they went on a good way.

“See how the sky is becoming overcast,”said John, pointing straight before them.“Those are terribly thick clouds.”

“No,”replied his travelling companion,“those are not clouds, they are mountains—the great glorious mountains, on which one gets quite up over the clouds, and into the free air. Believe me, it is delicious!Tomorrow we shall certainly be far out into the world.”

But that was not so near as it looked；they had to walk for a whole day before they came to the mountains, where the black woods grew straight up towards heaven, and there were stones almost as big as a whole town. It might certainly be hard work to get quite across them, and for that reason John and his comrade went into the inn to rest themselves well, and gather strength for the morrow's journey.

Down in the great common room in the inn many guests were assembled, for a man was there exhibiting a puppet-show. He had just put up his little theatre, and the people were sitting round to see the play.Quite in front a fat old butcher had taken his seat in the very best place；his great bulldog, who looked very much inclined to bite, sat at his side, and made big eyes, as all the rest were doing.

Now the play began；and it was a very nice play, with a king and a queen in it；they sat upon a velvet throne, and had gold crowns on their heads and long trains to their cloaks, for their means admitted of that. The prettiest of wooden dolls with glass eyes and great moustaches stood at all the doors, and opened and shut them so that fresh air might come into the room.It was a very pleasant play, and not at all mournful.But—goodness knows what the big bulldog can have been thinking of!—Just as the queen stood up and was walking across the boards, as the fat butcher did not hold him, he made a spring upon the stage, and seized the queen round her slender waist so that it cracked.It was quite terrible!

The poor man who managed the play was very much frightened and quite sorrowful about his queen, for she was the daintiest little doll he possessed, and now the ugly bulldog had bitten off her head. But afterwards, when the people went away, the stranger said that he would put her to rights again；and then he brought out his little jar and rubbed the doll with the ointment with which he had cured the old woman when she broke her leg.As soon as the doll had been rubbed, she was whole again；yes, she could even move all her limbs by herself；it was no longer necessary to pull her by her string.The doll was like a living person, only that she could not speak.The man who had the little puppet-show was very glad, now he had not to hold this doll any more.She could dance by herself, and none of the others could do that.

When night came on, and all the people in the inn had gone to bed, there was some one who sighed so fearfully, and went on doing it so long, that they all got up to see who this could be. The man who had shown the play went to his little theatre, for it was there that somebody was sighing.All the wooden dolls lay mixed together, the king and all his followers；and it was they who sighed so pitiably, and stared with their big glass eyes；for they wished to be rubbed a little as the queen had been, so that they might be able to move by themselves.The queen at once sank on her knees, and stretched forth her beautiful crown, as if she begged,“Take this from me, but rub my husband and my courtiers!”

Then the poor man, the proprietor of the little theatre and the dolls, could not refrain from weeping, for he was really sorry for them. He immediately promised the travelling companion that he would give him all the money he should receive the next evening for the performance if the latter would only anoint four or five of his dolls.But the comrade said he did not require anything at all but the sword the man wore by his side；and, on receiving this, he anointed six of the dolls, who immediately began to dance so gracefully that all the girls, the living human girls, fell to dancing too.The coachman and the cook danced, the waiter and the chambermaid, and all the strangers, and the fire-shovel and tongs；but these latter fell down just as they made their first leaps.Yes, it was a merry night!

Next morning John went away from them all with his travelling companion, up on to the high mountains, and through the great pine woods. They came so high up that the church steeples under them looked at last like little red berries among all the green；and they could see very far, many, many miles away, where they had never been.So much splendour in the lovely world John had never seen at one time before.And the sun shone warm in the fresh blue air, and among the mountains he could hear the huntsmen blowing their horns so gaily and sweetly that tears came into his eyes, and he could not help calling out,“How kind has Heaven been to us all, to give us all the splendour that is in this world!”

The travelling companion also stood there with folded hands, and looked over the forest and the towns in the warm sunshine. At the same time there arose lovely sounds over their heads:they looked up, and a great white swan was soaring in the air, and singing as they had never heard a bird sing till then.But the song became weaker and weaker；he bowed his head and sank quite slowly down at their feet, where he lay dead, the beautiful bird!

“Two such splendid wings,”said the travelling companion,“so white and large, as those which this bird has, are worth money；I will take them with me. Do you see that it was good I got a sabre?”

And so, with one blow, he cut off both the wings of the dead swan, for he wanted to keep them.

They now travelled for many, many miles over the mountains, till at last they saw a great town before them with hundreds of towers, which glittered like silver in the sun. In the midst of the town was a splendid marble palace, roofed with red gold.And there the king lived.

John and the travelling companion would not go into the town at once, but remained in the inn outside the town, that they might dress themselves；for they wished to look nice when they came out into the streets. The host told them that the king was a very good man, who never did harm to any one；but his daughter, yes, goodness preserve us!She was a bad princess.She possessed beauty enough—no one could be so pretty and so charming as she was—but of what use was that?She was a wicked witch, through whose fault many gallant princes had lost their lives.She had given permission to all men to seek her hand.Any one might come, be he prince or beggar；it was all the same to her.He had only to guess three things about which she questioned him.If he could do that she would marry him, and he was to be king over the whole country when her father should die；but if he could not guess the three things, she caused him to be hanged or to have his head cut off!So evil and so wicked was the beautiful princess.

Her father, the old king, was very sorry about it；but he could not forbid her to be so wicked, because he had once said that he would have nothing to do with her lovers；she might do as she liked. Every time a prince came, and was to guess to gain the princess, he was unable to do it, and was hanged or lost his head.He had been warned in time, you see, and might have given over his wooing.The old king was so sorry for all this misery and woe, that he used to go down on his knees with all his soldiers for a whole day in every year, praying that the princess might become good；but she would not, by any means.The old women who drank brandy used to colour it quite black before they drank it, they were in such deep mourning—and they certainly could not do more.

“The ugly princess!'said John；“she ought really to have the rod；that would do her good. If I were only the old king she should be punished!”

Then they heard the people outside shouting,“Hurrah!”The princess came by；and she was really so beautiful that all the people forgot how wicked she was, and that is why they cried“Hurrah!”Twelve beautiful virgins, all in white silk gowns, and each with a golden tulip in her hand, rode on coal-black steeds at her side. The princess herself had a snow-white horse, decked with diamonds and rubies.Her riding-habit was all of cloth of gold, and the whip she held in her hand looked like a sunbeam；the golden crown on her head was just like little stars out of the sky, and her mantle was sewn together out of more than a thousand beautiful butterflies'wings.In spite of this, she herself was much more lovely than all her clothes.

When John saw her, his face became as red as a drop of blood, and he could hardly utter a word. The princess looked just like the beautiful lady with the golden crown, of whom he had dreamt on the night when his father died.He thought her so enchanting that he could not help loving her greatly.It could not be true that she was a wicked witch, who caused people to be hanged or beheaded if they could not guess the riddles she put to them.

“Every one has permission to aspire to her hand, even the poorest beggar. I will really go to the castle, for I cannot help doing it!”

They all told him not to attempt it, for certainly he would fare as all the rest had done. His travelling companion too tried to dissuade him；but John thought it would end well.He brushed his shoes and his coat, washed his face and his hands, combed his beautiful yellow hair, and then went quite alone into the town and to the palace.

“Come in!”said the old king, when John knocked at the door.

John opened it, and the old king came towards him in a dressing-gown and embroidered slippers；he had the crown on his head, and the sceptre in one hand and the orb in the other.“Wait a little!”said he, and put the orb under his arm, so that he could reach out his hand to John. But as soon as he learned that his visitor was a suitor, he began to weep so violently that both the sceptre and the orb fell to the ground, and he was obliged to wipe his eyes with his dressing-gown.Poor old king!

“Give it up!”said he.“You will fare badly, as all the others have done. Well, you shall see!”

Then he led him out into the princess's, pleasure-garden. There was a terrible sight!In every tree there hung three or four kings'sons who had wooed the princess, but had not been able to guess the riddles she proposed to them.Each time that the breeze blew all the skeletons rattled, so that the little birds were frightened, and never dared to come into the garden.All the flowers were tied up to human bones, and in the flower-pots skulls stood and grinned.That was certainly a garden for a princess.

“Here you see it,”said the old king.“It will chance to you as it has chanced to all these whom you see here；therefore you had better give it up. You will really make me unhappy, for I take these things very much to heart.”

John kissed the good old king's hand, and said it would gowell, for that he was quite enchanted with the beautiful princess.

Then the princess herself came riding into the courtyard, with all her ladies；and they went out to her and wished her good morning. She was beautiful to look at, and she gave John her hand.And he cared much more for her then than before—she could certainly not be a wicked witch, as the people asserted.Then they betook themselves to the hall, and the little pages waited upon them with preserves and gingerbread nuts.But the old king was quite sorrowful；he could not eat anything at all.Besides, gingerbread nuts were too hard for him.

It was settled that John should come to the palace again the next morning；then the judges and the whole council would be assembled, and would hear how he succeeded with his answers. If it went well, he should come twice more；but no one had yet come who had succeeded in guessing right the first time, and so they had to lose their lives.

John was not at all anxious as to how he should fare. On the contrary, he was merry, thought only of the beautiful princess, and felt quite certain that he should be helped；but how he did not know, and preferred not to think of it.He danced along on the road returning to the inn, where his travelling companion was waiting for him.

John could not leave off telling how polite the princess had been to him, and how beautiful she was. He declared he already longed for the next day, when he was to go into the palace and try his luck in guessing.

But the travelling companion shook his head and was quite downcast.“I am so fond of you!”said he.“We might have been together a long time yet, and now I am to lose you already!You poor dear John!I should like to cry, but I will not disturb your merriment on the last evening, perhaps, we shall ever spend together. We will be merry, very merry!Tomorrow, when you are gone, I can weep undisturbed.”

All the people in the town had heard directly that a new suitor for the princess had arrived；and there was great sorrow on that account. The theatre remained closed；the women who sold cakes tied bits of crape round their sugar pigs, and the king and the priests were on their knees in the churches.There was great lamentation；for John would not, they all thought, fare better than the other suitors had fared.

Towards evening the travelling companion mixed a great bowl of punch, and said to John,“Now we will be very merry, and drink to the health of the princess.”But when John had drunk two glasses, he became so sleepy that he found it impossible to keep his eyes open, and he sank into a deep sleep. The travelling companion lifted him very gently from his chair, and laid him in the bed；and when it grew to be dark night, he took the two great wings which he had cut off the swan, and bound them to his own shoulders.Then he put in his pocket the longest of the rods he had received from the old woman who had fallen and broken her leg；and he opened the window and flew away over the town, straight towards the palace, where he seated himself in a corner under the window which looked into the bedroom of the princess.

All was quiet in the whole town. Now the clock struck a quarter to twelve, the window was opened, and the princess came out in a long white cloak, and with black wings, and flew away across the town to a great mountain.But the travelling companion made himself invisible, so that she could not see him at all, and flew behind her, and whipped the princess with his rod, so that the blood actually came wherever he struck.Oh, that was a voyage through the air!The wind caught her cloak, so that it spread out on all sides like a great sail, and the moon shone through it.

“How it hails!How it hails!”said the princess at every blow she got from the rod；and it served her right. At last she arrived at the mountain, and knocked there.There was a rolling like thunder, as the mountain opened, and the princess went in.The travelling companion followed her, for no one could see him—he was invisible.They went through a great long passage, where the walls shone in quite a peculiar way:there were more than a thousand glowing spiders running up and down the walls and gleaming like fire.Then they came into a great hall built of silver and gold；flowers as big as sunflowers, red and blue, shone on the walls；but no one could pluck these flowers, for the stems were ugly poisonous snakes, and the flowers were streams of fire pouring out of their mouths.The whole ceiling was covered with shining glowworms and sky-blue bats, flapping their thin wings.It looked quite terrific!In the middle of the floor was a throne, carried by four skeleton horses, with harness of fiery red spiders；the throne itself was of milk-white glass, and the cushions were little black mice, biting each other's tails.Above it was a canopy of pink spider's web, trimmed with the prettiest little green flies, which gleamed like jewels.On the throne sat an old magician, with a crown on his ugly head and a sceptre in his hand.He kissed the princess on the forehead, made her sit down beside him on the costly throne, and then the music began.Great black grasshoppers played on Jews'-harps, and the owl beat her wings upon her body, because she hadn't a drum.That was a strange concert!Little black goblins with a Jack-o'-lantern light on their caps danced about in the hall.But no one could see the travelling companion:he had placed himself just behind the throne, and heard and saw everything.The courtiers, who now came in, were very grand and stately；but he who could see it all knew very well what it all meant.They were nothing more than broomsticks with heads of cabbages on them, which the magician had animated by his power, and to whom he had given embroidered clothes.But that did not matter, for, you see, they were only wanted for show.

After there had been a little dancing, the princess told the magician that she had a new suitor, and therefore she inquired of him what she should think of to ask the suitor when he should come tomorrow to the palace.

“Listen!”said the magician,“I will tell you that:you must choose something very easy, for then he won't think of it. Think of one of your shoes.That he will not guess.Let him have his head cut off:but don't forget, when you come to me tomorrow night, to bring me his eyes, for I'll eat them.”

The princess curtsied very low, and said she would not forget the eyes. The magician opened the mountain, and she flew home again；but the travelling companion followed her, and beat her again so hard with the rod that she sighed quite deeply about the heavy hail-storm, and hurried as much as she could to get back into the bedroom through the open window.The travelling companion, for his part, flew back to the inn, where John was still asleep, took off his wings, and then lay down upon the bed, for he might well be tired.

It was quite early in the morning when John awoke. The travelling companion also got up, and said he had had a wonderful dream in the night, about the princess and her shoe；and he therefore begged John to ask if the princess had not thought about her shoe.For it was this he had heard from the magician in the mountain.But he would not tell John anything about that；he merely told him to ask if she had not thought about one of her shoes.

“I may just as well ask about that as about anything else,”said John.“Perhaps it is quite right, what you have dreamed. But I will bid you farewell；for, if I guess wrong, I shall never see you more.”

Then they embraced each other, and John went into the town and to the palace. The entire hall was filled with people:the judges sat in their arm-chairs and had eider down pillows behind their heads, for they had a great deal to think about.The old king stood up, and wiped his eyes with a white pocket-handkerchief.Now the princess came in.She was much more beautiful than yesterday, and bowed to all in a very affable manner；but to John she gave her hand, and said,“Good morning to you.”

Now John was to guess what she had thought of. Oh, how lovingly she looked at him!But as soon as she heard the single word“shoe”pronounced, she became as white as chalk in the face, and trembled all over.But that availed her nothing, for John had guessed right!Wonderful!How glad the old king was!He threw a somersault, beautiful to behold.And all the people clapped their hands in honour of him and of John, who had guessed right the first time!

The travelling companion beamed with delight, when he heard how well matters had gone. But John folded his hands and thanked God, who certainly would help him also the second and third time.The next day he was to guess again.

The evening passed just like that of yesterday. While John slept the travelling companion flew behind the princess out to the mountain, and beat her even harder than the time before, for now he had taken two rods.No one saw him, and he heard everything.The princess was to think of her glove；and this again he told to John as if it had been a dream.Thus John could guess correctly, which caused great rejoicing in the palace.The whole court threw somersaults, just as they had seen the king do the first time；but the princess lay on the sofa, and would not say a single word.Now, the question was, if John could guess properly the third time.If he succeeded, he was to have the beautiful princess and inherit the whole kingdom after the old king's death.If he failed, he was to lose his life, and the magician would eat his beautiful blue eyes.

That evening John went early to bed, said his prayers, and went to sleep quite quietly. But the travelling companion bound his wings to his back and his sword by his side, and took all three rods with him, and so flew away to the palace.

It was a very dark night. The wind blew so hard that the tiles flew off from the roofs, and the trees in the garden where the skeletons hung bent like reeds before the storm.The lightening flashed out every minute, and the thunder rolled just as if it were one peal lasting the whole night.Now the window opened, and the princess flew out.She was as pale as death；but she laughed at the bad weather, and thought it was not bad enough yet.And her white cloak fluttered in the wind like a great sail；but the travelling companion beat her with the three rods, so that the blood dripped upon the ground, and at last she could scarcely fly any farther.At length, however, she arrived at the mountain.

“It hails and blows dreadfully!”he said.“I have never been out in such weather.”

“One may have too much of a good thing,”said the magician. Now she told him that John had also guessed correctly the second time；if he did the same on the morrow, then he had won, and she could never more come out to him in the mountain, and would never be able to perform such feats of magic as before, and so she was quite dejected.“He shall not be able to guess,”said the magician.“I shall think of something of which he has never thought, or he must be a greater conjuror than I.But now we will be merry.”And he took the princess by the hands, and they danced about with all the little goblins and Jack-o'-lanterns that were in the room.The red spiders jumped just as merrily up and down the walls:it looked as if fiery flowers were spurting out.The owl played the drum, the crickets piped, and the black grasshoppers played on the Jew's-harp.It was a merry ball.

When they had danced long enough the princess was obliged to go home, for she might be missed in the palace. The magician said he would accompany her, then they would have each other's company on the way.

Then they flew away into the bad weather, and the travelling companion broke his three rods across their backs. Never had the magician been out in such a hailstorm.In front of the palace he said good-bye to the princess, and whispered to her at the same time,“Think of my head.”But the travelling companion heard it；and just at the moment when the princess slipped through the window into her bedroom, and the magician was about to turn back, he seized him by his long beard, and with his sabre cut off the ugly conjuror's head just by the shoulders, so that the magician did not even see him.The body he threw out into the sea to the fishes；but the head he only dipped into the water, and then tied it in his silk handkerchief, took it with him into the inn, and then lay down to sleep.

Next morning he gave John the handkerchief, and told him not to untie it until the princess asked him to tell her thoughts.

There were so many people in the great hall of the palace, that they stood as close together as radishes bound together in a bundle. The council sat in the chairs with the soft pillows, and the old king had new clothes on；the golden crown and sceptre had been polished, and everything looked quite stately.But the princess was very pale, and had a coal-black dress on, as if she were going to a funeral.

“Of what have I thought?”she asked John. And he immediately untied the handkerchief, and was himself quite frightened when he saw the ugly magician's head.All present shuddered, for it was terrible to look upon；but the princess sat just like a statue, and could not utter a single word.At length she stood up, and gave John her hand, for he had guessed correctly.She did not look at any one, only sighed aloud, and said,“Now you are my lord!—this evening we will hold our wedding.”

“I like that!”cried the old king.“So I would have it.”

All present cried,“Hurrah!”The soldiers'band played music in the streets, the bells rang, and the cake-women took off the black crape from their sugar pigs, for joy now reigned everywhere；three oxen roasted whole, and stuffed with ducks and fowls, were placed in the middle of the market, that everyone might cut himself a slice；the fountains ran with the best wine；and whoever bought a penny cake at a baker's got six buns into the bargain, and the buns had raisins in them.

In the evening the whole town was illuminated；the soldiers fired off the cannon, and the boys let off crackers；and there was eating and drinking, clinking of glasses, and dancing, in the palace. All the noble gentlemen and pretty ladies danced with each other, and one could hear, a long, distance off, how they sang—

Here are many pretty girls, who all love to dance；

See, they whirl like spinning-wheels,

retire and advance.

Turn, my pretty maiden, do,

till the sole falls from your shoe.

But still the princess was a witch, and did not like John. This had been expected by the travelling companion；and so he gave John three feathers out of the swan's wings, and a little bottle with a few drops in it, and told John that he must put a large tub of water before the princess's bed；and when the princess was about to get into bed, he should give her a little push, so that she should fall into the tub；and then he must dip her three times, after he had put in the feathers and poured in the drops；she would then lose her magic qualities, and love him very much.

John did all that the travelling companion had advised him to do. The princess screamed out loudly while he dipped her in the tub, and struggled under his hands in the form of a great coal-black swan with fiery eyes.When she came up the second time above the water, the swan was white, with the exception of a black ring round her neck.John let the water close for the third time over the bird, and in the same moment it was again changed to the beautiful princess.She was more beautiful even than before, and thanked him, with tears in her lovely eyes, that he had freed her from the magic spell.

The next morning the old king came with his whole court, and then there was great congratulation till late into the day. Last of all came the travelling companion；he had his staff in his hand and his knapsack on his back.John kissed him many times, and said he must not depart,—he must remain with the friend of whose happiness he was the cause.But the travelling companion shook his head, and said mildly and kindly,“No, now my time is up.I have only paid my debt.Do you remember the dead man whom the bad people wished to injure?You gave all you possessed in order that he might have rest in the grave.I am that man.”

And in the same moment he vanished.

The wedding festivities lasted a whole month. John and the princess loved each other truly, and the old king passed many pleasant days, and let their little children ride on his knees and play with his sceptre.And John afterwards became king over the whole country.

3.The Hardy Tin Soldier

There were once five and twenty tin soldiers；they were all brothers, for they had all been born of one old tin spoon. They shouldered their muskets, and looked straight before them:their uniform was red and blue, and very splendid.The first thing they had heard in the world, when the lid was taken off their box, had been the words“Tin soldiers”!These words were uttered by a little boy, clapping his hands:the soldiers had been given to him, for it was his birthday；and now he put them upon the table.Each soldier was exactly like the rest only one of them was a little different, he had but one leg, for he had been cast last of all, and there had not been enough tin to finish him；but he stood as firmly upon his one leg as the others on their two；and it was just this soldier who became remarkable.

On the table on which they had been placed stood many other playthings, but the toy that attracted most attention was a neat castle of cardboard. Through the little windows one could see straight into the hall.Before the castle some little trees were placed round a little looking-glass, which was to represent a clear lake.Waxen swans swam on this lake, and were mirrored in it.This was all very pretty；but the prettiest of all was a little lady, who stood at the open door of the castle:she was also cut out in paper, but she had a dress of the clearest gauze, and a little narrow blue ribbon over her shoulders, that looked like a scarf；and in the middle of this ribbon was a shining tinsel rose as big as her whole face.The little lady stretched out both her arms, for she was a dancer；and then she lifted one leg so high that the tin soldier could not see it at all, and thought that, like himself, she had but one leg.

“That would be the wife for me,”thought he；“but she is very grand. She lives in a castle, and I have only a box, and there are five and twenty of us in that.It is no place for her.But I must try to make acquaintance with her.”

And then he lay down at full length behind a snuff-box which was on the table；there he could easily watch the little dainty lady, who continued to stand on one leg without losing her balance.

When the evening came, all the other tin soldiers were put into their box, and the people in the house went to bed. Now the toys began to play at“visiting,”and at“war,”and“giving balls.”The tin soldiers rattled in their box, for they wanted to join, but could not lift the lid.The nutcracker threw somersaults, and the pencil amused itself on the table:there was so much noise that the canary woke up, and began to speak too, and even in verse.The only two who did not stir from their places were the tin soldier and the dancing lady:she stood straight up on the point of one of her toes, and stretched out both her arms；and he was just as enduring on his one leg；and he never turned his eyes away from her.

Now the clock struck twelve—and, bounce!—the lid flew off the snuff-box；but there was not snuff in it, but a little black goblin:you see it was a trick.

“Tin soldier!”said the goblin,“will you keep your eyes to yourself?”

But the tin soldier pretended not to hear him.

“Just you wait till tomorrow!”said the goblin.

But when the morning came, and the children got up, the tin soldier was placed in the window；and whether it was the goblin or the draught that did it, all at once the window flew open, and the soldier fell head over heels out of the third story. That was a terrible passage!He put his leg straight up, and stuck with his helmet downwards and his bayonet between the paving-stones.

The servant-maid and the little boy came down directly to look for him, but though they almost trod upon him they could not see him. If the soldier had cried out“Here I am!”they would have found him；but he did not think it fitting to call out loudly, because he was in uniform.

Now it began to rain；the drops soon fell thicker, and at last it came down in a complete stream. When the rain was past, two street boys came by.

“Just look!”said one of them,“there lies a tin soldier. He shall go out sailing.”

And they made a boat out of a newspaper, and put the tin soldier in the middle of it；and so he sailed down the gutter, and the two boys ran beside him and clapped their hands. Goodness preserve us!How the waves rose in that gutter, and how fast the stream ran!But then it had been a heavy rain.The paper boat rocked up and down, and sometimes turned round so rapidly that the tin soldier trembled；but he remained firm, and never changed countenance, but looked straight before him, and shouldered his musket.

All at once the boat went into a long drain, and it became as dark as if he had been in his box.

“Where am I going now?”he thought.“Yes, yes, that's the goblin's fault. Ah!If the little lady only sat here with me in the boat, it might be twice as dark for what I should care.”

Suddenly there came a great water-rat, which lived under the drain.“Have you a passport?”said the rat.“Give me your passport.”

But the tin soldier kept silence, and held his musket tighter than ever.

The boat went on, but the rat came after it. Ugh!How he gnashed his teeth, and called out to the bits of straw and wood,

“Hold him!Hold him!He hasn't paid toll—he hasn't shown his passport!”

But the stream became stronger and stronger. The tin soldier could see the bright daylight where the arch ended；but he heard a roaring noise, which might well frighten a bolder man.Only think—just where the tunnel ended, the drain ran into a great canal；and for him that would have been as dangerous as for us to be carried down a great waterfall.

Now he was already so near it that he could not stop. The boat was carried out, the poor tin soldier stiffening himself as much as he could, and no one could say that he moved an eyelid.The boat whirled round three or four times, and was full of water to the very edge—it must sink.The tin soldier stood up to his neck in water, and the boat sank deeper and deeper, and the paper was loosened more and more；and now the water closed over the soldier's head.Then he thought of the pretty little dancer, and how he should never see her again；and it sounded in the soldier's ears:

Farewell, farewell, thou warrior brave,

For this day thou must die!

And now the paper parted, and the tin soldier fell out；but at that moment he was snapped up by a great fish.

Oh, how dark it was in that fish's body!It was darker yet than in the drain tunnel；and then it was very narrow too. But the tin soldier remained unmoved, and lay at full length shouldering his musket.

The fish swam to and fro；he made the most wonderful movements, and then became quite still. At last something flashed through him like lightning.The daylight shone quite clear, and a voice said aloud,“The tin soldier!”The fish had been caught, carried to market, bought, and taken into the kitchen, where the cook cut him open with a large knife.She seized the soldier round the body with both her hands, and carried him into the room, where all were anxious to see the remarkable man who had travelled about in the inside of a fish；but the tin soldier was not at all proud.They placed him on the table, and there—no!What curious things may happen in the world!The tin soldier was in the very room in which he had been before!he saw the same children, and the same toys stood on the table；and there was the pretty castle with the graceful little dancer.She was still balancing herself on one leg, and held the other extended in the air.She was hardy too.That moved the tin soldier:he was very nearly weeping tin tears, but that would not have been proper.He looked at her and she at him, but they said nothing to each other.

Then one of the little boys took the tin soldier and flung him into the stove. He gave no reason for doing this.It must have been the fault of the goblin in the snuff-box.

The tin soldier stood there quite illuminated, and felt a heat that was terrible；but whether this heat proceeded from the real fire or from love he did not know. The colours had quite gone off from him；but whether that had happened on the journey, or had been caused by grief, no one could say.He looked at the little lady, she looked at him, and he felt that he was melting；but he still stood firm, shouldering his musket.Then suddenly the door flew open, and the draught of air caught the dancer, and she flew like a sylph just into the stove to the tin soldier, and flashed up in a flame, and she was gone.Then the tin soldier melted down into a lump, and when the servant-maid took the ashes out next day, she found him in the shape of a little tin heart.But of the dancer nothing, remained but the tinsel rose, and that was burned as black as a coal.